State of the Art: Card handling devices used in the gaming industry are well known in the art and are conventionally used for increasing the efficiency, security and game speed in live table games such as blackjack, baccarat, and various forms of poker. Card handling devices, such as card shufflers, may perform a variety of functions including randomly shuffling one or more decks of playing cards in an efficient and thorough manner. In a live table game, it is important that the playing cards are shuffled in an efficient and thorough manner to prevent players from having an advantage by knowing the position of specific cards or groups of cards in the final arrangement of cards delivered in the play of the game. Additionally, it is advantageous to have the playing cards shuffled in a very short period of time in order to minimize any delay in the play of the game.
Conventional card shufflers may also include a card recognition device which, in addition to aiding in the shuffling of cards, may verify the contents of the deck and ensure that the deck contains not only all the appropriate cards, but also that the deck does not contain any cards which do not belong therein. The card recognition device enables a card shuffler to verify the contents of the deck(s) by using a local computer or a processor contained within the shuffler. The card recognition device of a conventional card shuffler may comprise a camera that takes a picture of each card entered into the shuffler and then extracts the card rank (2-10, Jack-Ace) and suit (spade, club, heart, diamond) from the picture. Alternatively, other conventional card shufflers may comprise a card recognition device that employs sensors and a hardware component that may sense the rank and suit from the face of a card and thereafter convert signals from the sensed data into vector sets. The vector sets are then compared to known vector sets of a verified deck of cards.
Upon completion of the shuffling and verification processes, the card shuffler may send a signal to a local printer which subsequently, upon receipt of the signal, prints a label indicating the appropriate verification information. The label may then be affixed to the shuffled cards and the cards may then be stored in a secured vault until casino personnel subsequently deliver the cards from the vault to the appropriate game table. A dealer may then access the cards and load the shuffled decks into a shoe for immediate use in a casino game.
In addition, conventional card shufflers are capable of performing a self-diagnosis and accordingly, displaying diagnostic results on an associated display device. Diagnostic results may include errors or alerts for events such as card jams, missing cards, extra cards and a host of other abnormal events.
As described above, conventional card handling devices require some level of human control and direction during operation. Currently, casino personnel must stand next to the card handling device as it performs the shuffling and card verification tasks and then monitor the results displayed on a display device located on the card shuffler. Traditionally, casinos and casino personnel are very busy; therefore, it is essential that card handling devices work efficiently. It is equally important that the amount of human hours spent monitoring these devices be as limited as possible in order to allow the casino personnel to attend to other issues elsewhere in the casino.
There is a need for methods and apparatuses to provide increased system efficiency and reliability of a card handling device. Specifically, there is a need for a card handling device that can access a network and communicate with a device user regarding various information including, by way of example only, current or past operation of the device, maintenance or repair of the device, current or past performance of the device, and the location of the device. Such a card handling device would desirably decrease the time and effort involved in the monitoring process, and, therefore, increase the efficiency of the card handling device.